The Blank PSP Disc
by PiercedTimeBomb
Summary: After playing the end of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Leo finds Zack Fair, her favourite character and the one who died, in her bedroom. Despite being confused, Zack knows that this is not his world and after discovering that his fellow characters have been born again to this strange place, he sets out to find them alongside Leo, hoping to find answered. M for lemons.


**So, I've been playing Crisis Core lately and I've totally fallen in love with a majority of the characters, but above all, I adore Zack Fair. I've decided to write a fic about what happens to fictional characters when they die and this one is about Zack **** I'll be doing various ones for various stories as a little project between the one-shot lemons I'm stuck on. So Zack's is the first! I don't own Final Fantasy!**

**The Blank PSP Disc**_  
'Men do not cry for themselves, but for their comrades.'_

June 25th, 2013  
I seriously don't know what's going on with me anymore. I mean, for fuck's sake, my grades are going down, my head keeps spinning like a top and my cats keep avoiding me. Although, Skye has been treating me normally, thank whatever deities exist! It doesn't matter – at least I managed to find my PSP charger so I can continue with Crisis Core. I swear, this game is amazing! I don't really like Aerith, though. She seems way too ditzy – even dumber than my sister. I have school tomorrow so I'd best finish off this entry and get to writing my essay – otherwise, Prof Long will be pissed. I really hate deadlines, y'know?

_From the diary of Eleonora Kingston._

xxXxXxXxXxXxXxx

I couldn't sleep. Even after playing Crisis Core until I was so tired I could barely open my eyes, I just couldn't sleep. I think it was bugging me – I knew the only playable character, Zack Fair, was going to die. I just didn't know how and I didn't even want to play so far that he would die! I mean, Zack was the absolute star of Crisis Core and – oh, Jesus, my internal rant was starting to make me angry. Instead of striving for sleep, I decided to take up my PSP with its strange blank disc for Crisis Core and play.

So far, I had just discovered that Zack and Cloud were in the sleep pods Doctor Hojo created for four years and had defeated the Angeal copy and Genesis. I was kind of glad Genesis was no longer a problem, mostly because that 'Loveless' poem he constantly read was awfully creepy.

I played for hours, my luck in as I went from level sixty-four right up to level eighty-one from doing missions and getting lucky with the DMW. The final moments of playtime were the best and the worst. Best because of the amazing fluidity of the gameplay. Worst…because Zack, Angeal and Sephiroth all died.

I watched as Zack looked at the sky as the sun emerged from behind the clouds, remembering how Aerith was scared of such a beautiful thing. Angeal descended from the sky, taking Zack's hand and entering the Lifestream with him. When the camera switched to Cloud, I heard Zack's voice say, "Hey, would you say I became a hero?"

That was all it took for me to break down in tears as the credits rolled. I didn't want the game to end. I curled up in a ball against my pillows, sobbing into my arms. Good God, why was a I crying so hard? Crying over a game character…What had gotten into me?

I was finally able to sleep after exhausting myself through crying so much. Having a lecture at uni in the afternoon, it didn't matter how late in the morning I woke up, since the lecture was the only thing I had that day and no classes until tomorrow.

My dream was strange, though. I could remember it so clearly.

I sat up in bed, having felt something fall on my bed. I assumed it was my dog and felt out for her, since my room was pitch black. Instead, my hand came up against warm skin. I turned on my lamp, and what do you know? There was Zack – looking less computer-animated and much more realistic. For goodness sake, he even wore the same clothes. Even in the game, he had looked extremely pretty – too pretty for a guy and much prettier than Sephiroth or Cloud – with spiked black hair and, holy shit, he was seriously tall – at least six-three.

I poked him in the arm, causing him to frown. When those eyes – Mako-infused blue – opened, it was as if they glowed in the yellowish light of my lamp. I just stared at him, completely dumbstruck, as he sat up, the hard-cut muscles of his arms flexing almost gracefully.

"Where am I?" he whispered, sounding confused as he looked around my room, at the cluttered desk, film and band poster-covered walls and my drawing materials on the floor. He looked at me, frowning so deeply he looked more like Angeal than himself. "Who are you?"

"I'm Eleonora," I said, still quite shocked. "You can call me Leo, but not Nora – that's for my parents only."

"Leo, huh?" he said, a little spark glimmering in his eyes. "I'm-"

"I know who you are," I said, smiling. "You're Zack Fair, SOLDIER first class, born in the backwater village of Gongaga." At his stunned face, I elaborated. "I don't even know how you ended up here either, okay? A couple of hours ago, I was playing your story – Crisis Core – and now you're suddenly here in my dream."

He frowned again. "So…the Lifestream runs through your head? Did Angeal come through here?"

I snorted. "No, I don't think a fictional stream of energy runs through my brain. I just know I'm dreaming." I canted my head to one side. "I just don't get how you ended up here when I just watched your death scene."

"I'm dead?!" he yelled. "What the actual fuck?!"

I shrugged. "Beats me, dude. I just know I watched the cutscene where you died and Angeal took you up to the Lifestream after you gave Cloud Strife the Buster Sword Angeal had given you when he died." I noticed the tears in his eyes and bit my lip. "Hey, c'mon. It's not all bad. I mean, I know this is just a dream, but you're welcome to stay in my head, if you like – even though you'll mostly find perverted images of a lot of guys in there – so you're welcome to sleep on my sofa."

He looked at the beat-up old two-seater, which I knew would not support his muscular weight. "Right," he said, getting up. Damn, he was tall and lacking the Buster Sword. "I'll let you get back to resting, then, Leo."

That was all I could remember of the dream. I rolled over in bed, letting out my usual morning noise as I rubbed my eyes. I took a quick look at my phone to find that my best gamer girl friend, Annie Tucker, had text me, asking me if she should sell her game idea to Sony or Microsoft. I quickly messaged her back, saying to sell it to Sony so it would be released on PlayStation instead of Xbox.

I sat up, bleary-eyed, and stretched, feeling my spine cracking and my elbows creaking. When my vision cleared, I noticed a figure with black hair asleep on my sofa. "Holy fuck," I said, gob-smacked, my senses on full alert. "Jesus…Okay, Leo, calm down. This is not normal – okay, fine – and you might have gone and sunk into total psychosis, but Zack Fair from the Final Fantasy games is asleep on your sofa. Do not screw this up."

I heard Zack groan, his gloved hand rubbing his eyes as he shifted onto his back. He sat up and gave his neck and expert crack both ways. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Any chance you have some food?" he asked, his voice husky from sleep.

I let out a little squeak and clapped my hands to my mouth, biting my finger painfully hard in the process. He looked confused again. Oh, Christ, Leo, make this make sense to him! I stared him out for a moment before finding the courage to speak. "It wasn't a dream," I breathed into my hands. "Oh my fucking god, he's actually here. This isn't a dream!"

He frowned at me. "Are you okay?" he asked, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed. "You look a bit sick."

I bit my lip. "You're actually here. You're not in my head," I clarified for not just him but myself as well. "This is so weird." I pinched him.

"Ow," he said, scowling. "What was that for?"

"Jesus Christ!" I yelped, my eyes bugging wide. I grabbed my pack of cigarettes and lit one up, breathing in sweet nicotine. "Okay, you're no longer in your world – you're in mine. You might call it your version of a fantasy world, because that's what Midgar and the Lifestream and Mako and Shinra are to me."

"This is seriously weird," he said, leaning away from me. "And that thing stinks. Do you mind not talking and blowing the smoke in my face?"

Suddenly, my door burst open. Skye, my two year old Staffordshire bull terrier, lunged onto my bed. Zack was on his feet quicker than I could blink and stared as Skye sat on my lap, licking my face like it was going out of fashion. I quickly gave her a bully rub to calm her down and surprised myself by laughing at Zack's shocked expression.

"What is that thing?" he asked, his stance tense and ready.

"This is Skye," I said, pacifying aforementioned dog. "She's my dog."

"She's not a monster then?" he asked, frowning.

I shook my head. "Not unless she's ripping the furniture," I said, smiling. "She's a good girl. I have two cats, too – Meow and Boo, their names are. Meow's pretty laid back but Boo is quite skittish."

He relaxed somewhat, sitting on the bed again. Skye made a point of putting her front paws on his shoulders and licking his cheek until it was wet with dog spit. He looked a little scared but soon began smiling as Skye began playing with him. I swear, that dog loved everyone, especially if they gave her food or a belly rub.

"She likes you," I smiled, stubbing out my cigarette in the ashtray, since it was nearly smoked to the butt.

He chuckled as I heard my housemates getting up, obviously Jake or Alex making the pets their food from the noise of the can being poured into the bowls. "She's actually kinda cute," he said, looking at me as I got up to close the door – I didn't want any of my six housemates finding Zack here before I formed an explanation. "I've never seen something like her."

"She's got OCD and separation anxiety," I said, sitting on my sofa. "Most Staffies have it."

"Staffies?" he asked, back to frowning. Those luminous blue eyes twinkled with curiosity.

"Oh, Skye is a dog but her breed is a Staffordshire bull terrier, also called a Staffie. They're lovely dogs when you train them right," I informed him, then sighed at leaned back into the firm cushions. "Now, what the hell am I going to do about my favourite character from Final Fantasy turning up in my bedroom?"

"What's Final Fantasy?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. "Also, I don't mean to be rude, but do you have any food?" As if on cue, his stomach growled. He smiled apologetically.

"I'll explain after I grab some breakfast," I said, feeling hunger strike me. "Is toast and scrambled egg okay with you?"

"That's perfect," he grinned as I finally saw his famous X-shaped scar on his cheek he had gained from battling Angeal. He relaxed back on my bed, closing his eyes.

I smirked and left my bedroom, closing the door behind myself. It was only eight in the morning and my housemates – Jake Woods, Alex Morgan, Kyle Pratt, Maria Johnson and Lauren Lowell – all had to either attend class or a lecture or go to work. I didn't have any of those until the afternoon when I had my lecture at three until six.

"Hey, you," Jake said brightly. "Looking forward to that lecture later?"

Jake Woods, one of my oldest friends, was studying Games Design and Programming. I think he would go ape shit at the possibility that characters who die in games could come into our world, since he was always playing one Final Fantasy game or another, so he adored most of the characters. With his baby face, glasses, long hair and dimples, he looked like an innocent slacker but this guy had heaps of ambition – he wanted to work for Rockstar, the games company, as creative director one day.

"Not really," I said, wrinkling my nose. "I'm making some breakfast. Want some?"

"Nah, I'm good," he replied. "I've got work in an hour so I'll grab something on the way. I fed the pets, though."

I grinned. "Thanks, babe."

I got on to making breakfast as psychology students Maria and Alex sat at the table with English literature student Lauren and criminology student Kyle, eating breakfast as I made a double helping for myself.

Ever-skinny Maria scowled at my tray of food. "Jesus, Leo, you aren't pregnant, are you?" she asked, her eyes bugging. "You've got enough for two, there!"

I snickered. "No, I'm not pregnant – just really hungry. Must be that time of the month already," I joked, taking my food upstairs. I was just thankful they hadn't noticed that I had two plates of scrambled egg and toast with two glasses of orange juice.

I made it to my room, avoiding Jake in the hall as he rushed to get ready for his job as a paid intern at Google's UK headquarters. I locked it, which was a signal that one of us was studying, having sex or sleeping.

Zack sat up when I entered and slid the bolt home. "Thanks," he grinned, taking his plate, juice and form from me. "Man, this smells delicious."

I sat on the sofa and started eating. "So, do you remember anything?"

He nodded, shoving a forkful of egg into his mouth. "I remember dying and seeing Angeal reaching out to me. Then I found myself here, assuming it was the Lifestream, even though it looked quite different to what I'd expected."

"Do you think you ended up here for a reason?" I asked, tearing off a piece of my toast and nibbling it. "Like, to help someone do something or whatever?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, looking forlornly down at his breakfast. He looked up when Maria and Alex started bickering in the hall. "Do you live with family?"

I shook my head. "The only family I have in this house is my cousin, Lauren. The others are our housemates. We're all studying at university."

"And what are you studying?"

"I'm doing two courses as a combination degree," I mused, smiling wistfully. "Games Programming and Journalism. I want to be a games journalist when I finish uni. I'm on my last year but I might take it for another two years, get a Masters degree instead of a Bachelors, take a year out and work at Sony in their games department." I looked over at him. "I know you've always wanted to be a legendary SOLDIER like Sephiroth."

He chuckled. "Is there anything you don't know about me?"

I shrugged. "I only know what Wikipedia and Crisis Core have told me. I looked you up on there. I'm obsessed with the games series you come from – Final Fantasy." I took my breakfast over to my desk and opened my laptop. "I'll show you. I have heaps of screen shots, wall papers and portraits of all the characters, including you."

I loaded up my pictures folder and clicked on the one I had labelled 'Final Fantasy'. I showed Zack all of the pictures of the characters I had downloaded, including Aerith. When I brought up the one of her first wearing the pink bow and uniform from the later games, he seemed to become slightly depressed.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"What happened to Aerith?" he asked softly. "You said she's just a character in these games but to me, she is real." He met my gaze with an intensity so hot it made my nether regions swelter.

I bit my lip. "She dies. She was trying to save the planet but Sephiroth killed her. Cloud was with her – he tried to save her." I dared a peek at his face. "I'm sorry you lost her."

He stayed silent for a while, that odd frown creasing his brow. His only reply was a sigh. "Did Sephiroth die, too?"

"A fair few times," I admitted with a shrug. "After he went mad at Medeoheim and Cloud killed him, the Lifestream was all like, nope, fuck you, and practically spat him back out. Hojo actually created three more clones of him you don't know – Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. Kadaj almost killed Cloud when he merged with Jenova and became Sephiroth but he still defeated him." I managed a small smile. "Cloud saved the world many times. He's a legend within the gaming world nowadays. He even took on your personality and memories for a while."

He looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "So that nervous Infantryman became a legend," he said with a chuckle. "I don't know why but I feel kinda proud of him."

I shrugged. "It might be because you mentored him the same way Angeal mentored you when you were in SOLDIER," I said softly. "He looked after Aerith the best he could for you as well."

"Thank you," he said quietly. "I'm glad he was with her…at the end."

I continued eating as I loaded up my Journalism essay. I was only half-way through and it was due in three days so I needed to get a move on. I'd decided on titling it 'Games in the Media – Fandoms, Haters and Remakes' so it would tie-in with my next Games Programming module.

I sighed and realised something: I couldn't just abandon Zack in a world he didn't know. The only thing I could do was make up a lie to tell my housemates about Zack and fabricate his life. Since my parents had enough money to last my great grandchildren a century, I had money in a current debit account I could buy Zack some new clothes with, a phone and maybe even a car or something.

I smiled at him. "How do you feel about being my fake boyfriend?"


End file.
